More than 200 species, from whales to worms, have been found thriving in both the Arctic and the Antarctic.

Until recently it was thought the world's poles were frozen wastes where only penguins and polar bears could survive.

However new research techniques have enabled scientists to discover a host of new species, proving the Antarctic alone has more biodiversity than the Galapagos Islands.

Scientists have found 235 species that thrive at both ends of the earth as well as showing animals are migrating to the cooler poles as the climate warms.

Animals found at both poles include marathoners such as grey whales and birds, but also worms and crustaceans, the latter discoveries leading to future research questions about where they originated and how they ended up at both ends of the Earth. DNA analysis is underway to confirm whether the species are indeed identical.

The scientists also found evidence of cold water snails or pteropods of the Antarctic migrating southward as ocean temperatures rise. At least three species in the Arctic were found to be moving north.

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The research was carried out by scientists braving 48 foot waves in the Antarctic and polar bear attacks in the Arctic as part of the ongoing international research programme Census of Marine Life.

Scientists from around the world looked at biological data from more than one million locations, including seafloors exposed to light for the first time in 100,000 years after ice shelves melted. They also took advantage of new techniques such as satellite tracking mammals, DNA sequencing and scuba equipment to look at delicate creatures that could not be moved to a laboratory helped to discover more about the oceans.

Dr Ian Poiner, chairman of the Census scientific steering committee, said there is still a huge amount to learn about marine life at the poles.

He said: "The polar seas, far from being biological deserts, teem with an amazing quantity and variety of life. Only through the co-operation of 500 people from more than 25 countries could the daunting environmental challenges be overcome to produce research of such unprecedented scale and importance. And humanity is only starting to understand the nature of these regions."

The Census of Marine Life is an international science research program, supported by private and public agencies, aimed at assessing the biodiversity of marine life - past, present and future - by 2010.

At the moment it is thought there are 230,000 to 250,000 marine species around the world including 7,500 animals in the Antarctic and 5,500 in the Arctic.